Chapter Text
You were working abroad, but during your short time in the Ukraine, riots broke out and a revolution began, causing an ongoing conflict throughout the country and the surrounding areas. People were fighting for what they believed in and for what they wanted from their government. A part of you was terrified as you watched friends and strangers be shot and brutally beat in the street. You couldn’t leave just yet because you felt you needed to help the people around you in anyway you could.
You were on your way back to your apartment while trying to avoid as many open streets and people as possible. Not paying complete attention since you were looking behind to see if anyone was behind you when you ran into someone.
The impact caused you to fall and hit the ground with an ‘oooff’, only to look up to see a tall man standing over you. Scrambling back on your hands to get away from his as soon as possible but he puts his hands up in front of him and begins to speak. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just trying to get back to my hotel.”
You can help but look up at him slightly in shock since you weren’t expecting anyone to speak English to you, especially on their first encounter. The dark haired man clears his throat and you can see him thinking for a moment before speaking out again, “ya ne sobirayus prichinya tebe bol”
You feel the tension break between the two of you as you let out a laugh. He looks at you in confusion and possibly slightly insulted before you have a chance to explain yourself. “Sorry, but your Russian sucks. It’s nice to run into another English speaker in this dire moment.”
He extends his hands down to grab yours and helps you back onto your feet. “I was trying to speak Ukrainian.”
“Ha!” The man glares at you for a second time for laughing at him. “They’re close but not that close. Nice to meet you. I’m (y/n). The two languages are different enough to make you sound like a total noob.”
He looks even more offended than before. His eyebrows scrunch before he speaks up, “Rafe. And I’m not a total noob. Never was, never will be.”
“Okay Rafe, whatever you say. Nice to meet you but why don’t we get out of here because I see a large group of police coming our way.”
Rafe turns around and looks behind him before turning back around and pushing you forward. “Good idea. This is my first time here and I’m just trying to get back to my hotel without getting caught in this mess.”
“Which hotel?”
“The 11 Design.”
“Yeah, you’re not going to be getting anywhere near your hotel tonight.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s located close to the square where the center of the revolution is happening. Besides, I’m pretty sure everything is on fire, there are snipers all around the square and it’s not a safe place for tourists to be.”
“I don’t know where else to go and none of my contacts will come anywhere near here.”
“You can stay with me, at my apartment tonight, but I suggest you get the hell out of here tomorrow morning. I have a few contacts who can get you to Hungary, and then you are on your own.”
Rafe nods his head in agreement and you grab his hand to drag him along behind you. The two of you duck into alleyways and climb up people’s fire escapes to avoid the police and crowds of people.
“One final climb up this fire escape and we’ll be at my apartment.”
“Why can’t get just go through the front door?”
“Because it’s barricaded.”
Rafe looks at you and his lips make a small ‘oh’ but no sound comes out. You get Rafe to boost you up so you can grab a hold of the ladder to drop it down. You’re half way up when you hear him let out a groan of pain and you turn to see him fall down to the ground. Looking over, you see police officers coming your way and one with his gun out. You now understand why Rafe is clutching his leg and blood is pooling out of his thigh.
There is no way you can fight off three armed men, therefore, Rafe is going to have to wait a moment until you can think of a plan. Climbing up quickly as you can up the rest of the fire escape and you break the window of your apartment. Running into the kitchen you grab the vodka bottle off the counter and the dish towel off the oven door. You proceed to run into your living room and dump a box and all its contents out onto the floor until you find the lighter. While running back to the fire escape you place the dish towel into the vodka bottle and light the other end on fire.
“Rafe! Roll!”
He rolls to your right, away from the police and you throw the bottle towards the police, nearly missing them. The bottle and its contents explode in a fiery eruption. It knocks one over and he is unmoving while the others are distracted. This gives you the distraction you need to jump down and tackle the one closing in on Rafe. Your body weight hitting him from above causes him to fall and he hits his head against the road, knocking him out. You run towards the other officer facing you and jump onto him, trying to knock him over. It’s sad how unsuccessful you are since he is much larger than you. He throws you off and you hit the wall next to Rafe causing all the air in your lungs to leave. You take a moment to catch your breath but by that time the very large and angry police officer is standing above you about to do god knows what. Before he can do anything, you swing your feet and kick him the back of the knees causing him to go down. He rolls over and all you see if Rafe get on top of him and continue to beat the man unconscious.
When Rafe is done, both of you lay there on the ground, covered in dirt and blood, trying to catch your breath. You both sit there for a moment before you break the silence, “think you can climb up the ladder?”
“Yes.”
You stand up and help Rafe up but he lets out a groan of pain whenever he needs to put pressure his injured leg. After a bit of a struggle you both manage to make it into the apartment and you place him on the couch while you go get medical supplies and sew up the bullet wound.
“Good thing it was a through and through.”
“How they hell did you know how to do that?”
“Uhhh… from a friend. Anyways you should be good but try not to rip open your stitches.”
“Thank you.”
You and Rafe sat there in silence for a bit of time before you got up and went into the kitchen to begin making some food for the two of you.
“I contacted Alexi to let him know that I need someone evacuated out. It might make things more difficult now that you’re injured, but he’s the best damn smuggler I know.” You look back into the living room to see Rafe raise his eyebrows but he doesn’t say anything.
Walking back into the living room, you hand Rafe a beer and set down a plate of food in front of him. “Sorry it’s not much but it has been a little hard to go grocery shopping. Besides I’ve been giving most of my stuff to the people who have been fighting.”
“It’s fine.”
You sit down on the couch beside Rafe. “Cheers mate. To somehow staying alive.” You clink bottles and take a swig of your beer.
“So how did end up in the Ukraine? You don’t sound local.”
“I’m not. I got here because I was working for an international development organization as a field analysis and investigator. I would assess situations and try to locate certain people, places or objects that could help in a situation. Pretty damn good at it too. But the revolution began and everyone left. There wasn’t a need for my job anymore but I decided to stay here and help the locals.”
“Mhhmm.”
“What?”
“How would you like a job?”
You can’t help but raise your eyebrows at him. He just met you and now he’s offering you a job? “Are you serious?”
“Yes. I was here looking for a specific artifact but the trail ran dry. I hate to admit it but I need help finding it and you just described the exact kind of person I need. Plus you can hold your own in a fight and you saved my ass. I could use you.”
Now you’re the one staring at Rafe. Could you leave the Ukraine? Well there was nothing left for you here, not anymore. This could be the break you need. Besides how hard could it be to find a little artifact and it certainly would be less dangerous than staying here.
“I’ll do it.”
“Excellent. We will start as soon as we get out of here.”
“Awesome! I will let Alexi know that I will be leaving with you.” You can’t help but smile at Rafe. You feel excited for the first time in a while. “What are we looking for?”
“How much do you know about Henry Avery?”